[archiver]

Posted by Raul at 1/17/2001 7:53 AM EST


Engineer on team #111, Wildstang, from Rolling Meadows & Wheeling HS and Motorola.


In Reply to: The key to this year's game (long)
Posted by Joe Ross on 1/17/2001 3:27 AM EST:



Joe,

You are so right about this. We also ran some simulations and not only is it difficult for the people to decide what to do, but even when they agreed what each should do, they still often did the wrong thing once the clock started.

But let's just concentrate on the communication part:

First of all, it will be very important to scout and talk to all the teams ahead of time to become somewhat familiar with their capabilities during the practice day.

I suggest each team create a simple 5x7 card or something similar to hand out that says what they can and cannot do. These cards would be quickly exchanged as soon as you are told who you will be playing with. Would it be possible for all of us to agree on a format for this card or whatever? If we can all use the same format that is familiar to all of us then we can quickly recognize the patterns of capabilities that are needed for each strategy.

A bunch of cards could be handed out at the beginning of a regional to each team.

Of course, the ideal situation would be for each team to have a 30 second animation of what their robot can do and display it on their dashport laptop.

Raul


: After much deliberation, I have concluded that the best teams are not going to be the ones that can load the most balls, or balance the goals the best. The best teams are going to be the ones who can effectively communicate the strengths of their robot in 20 seconds or less.